This Chilean Super Senior Skips School, along with a few other wacky weekly adventures

 This was quite the week in Chile. I'll spare you my normal cheeky introduction and just get right into it. 

Monday was a normal day, but Tuesday is really when stuff gets interesting. My friend Angela had asked me if I wanted to go with her and a few other friends to a soccer game that was happening. 

Side note, but if I type football later in this post, just know I mean soccer the entire time. The Spanish word for soccer is "futbol" and sometimes I get all mixed up. Thanks for being patient. 

Anyway, this soccer game is part of a tournament called the "Olimpiadas" or the Olympics. It's a whole big event where all of the Marista high schools compete in every kind of sport. Right now, only the boys are competing because the girls competed earlier in the year. The only catch is that the games take place during the school day, so I would have to skip class and get approval from my host family in order to participate. 

After some careful consideration, I decided that this is exactly the kind of experience that I need to be participating in during my exchange. I am willing to take a little heat from Chilean professors and make up some homework if I get to experience something new. 

Additionally, I trust Angela and her family because I have spent time with them before, (they hosted Mya, the South African foreign exchange student I have mentioned in other blog posts). Furthermore because it is a school event that adds another layer of security. 

After explaining this all to my host family, and politely asking if I could go, they agreed and Tuesday morning we were off. 

The game was in a different city about 30 minutes away called Villa Alemana. Angela's mom was asking me all sorts of questions during the car ride, about Spanish and the U.S. and my Chilean experience and English and I tried my best to keep up but I definitely was a little lost at times. 

We arrived a bit early, but there was a basketball game happening inside so we went and cheered on the IRA (Institute of Rafael Aritzia) team for the last quarter. I liked it because my NY family is definitely more of a basketball family than a soccer family, so I actually felt like I fully knew what was happening. At 10:30 the soccer game started, and let me tell you, we were freaking ready. 

The student section of the game was packed with other kids who were skipping school to watch and also with the designated group that traveled with school permission to cheer on our team. There were banners, flags, balloons, whistles, and all kinds of raunchy cheering and Spanish songs that declared the greatness of our soccer team.

 I should clarify, I'm not 100% sure what all of the songs said, but they didn't sound entirely appropriate at times so I'm assuming there was a healthy dose of raunch. I'm not sure if "raunch" is actually an official word, but let's just go with it. 

The game ended with a tie, 1-1, but it was still super fun. Afterwards, we got some food at their vending stand. A traditional Chilean completo for me (in case you missed it, a completo is a Chilean hotdog on a super delicious bun, typically loaded with tomatoes, avocado, ketchup, and mayonnaise.) and a few new candy bars just to say that I've tried them out. 

Then we hopped back in the car to head back and catch the end of the school day. I had history class and theater in the afternoon and I'm sure glad I went because I actually have an acting part in the play now!

 It's small, but I don't mind because I'm getting anxious just thinking about the few lines I do have. The play is about an old man, Argante, who is a major hypochondriac who is trying to marry his daughter off to the nephew of one of his doctors, which she is highly opposed to. I get to play one of the doctors and my scene is an argument because I walk in as Argante's brother is making fun of my medical practices, saying they are unnecessary. Wish me luck with that whole shenanigan. 

On Wednesday I had a follow up doctor's appointment and got some new medicine and cream because my lab results came back and the doctor thinks these will be better suited for my rash. All is well and the new treatments do seem to be working. And you guys were worried, pfff. I told you I'd be okay. (I was freaking out for a day or two but I'm good now for real) 

When I got back to school, I had my specialized writing class and we are working on a group research project of sorts. My group is researching Jane Austen and analyzing the themes of marriage, equality, and love within her writing. I feel more useful than normal because I can read some of the English sources, summarize them, and also pull quotes to help out my classmates. Not really anything crazy, but that was a small win for me this week that I wanted to share. 

Also a really random side note, but something that brought me a little bit of joy this week was how some of the girls in my specialized writing class were having a heated debate about the Twilight movies. It was just so goofy and teenagery and fun. It made me smile to witness the interaction because, just like I've said before and will most likely say again, people are still people everywhere in the world. 

My last wacky weekly adventure that I want to include in this blog post is that there was a big soccer game between two Chilean teams this week, one of them being the favorite of my host family. 

"La U" or the soccer team of the University of Chile (the players are not all college students or even directly affiliated with the college, I asked, and am still not positive on how it works but we just roll with it) is the team that my family cheers for. Go Blue all the way. 

This week they played another team called Lanus (pronounced La-noos) and were losing by 2 points at halftime. They scored during the second half, but were still down by one goal until the last 2 minutes of the game. Then, some kind of foul/handball situation happened (I'm sorry, I'm not a soccer professional so I'm not positive) and La U got a penalty shot AND THEY SCORED, tying the game up 2-2. 

My host family went nuts. Even Abuela was screaming her head off. It was so awesome. I'm glad I got to be a part of it. 

In addition to all of that, I did actually skip school on Friday too because we had a class field trip that deserves its own blog post because we did so much stuff. Check back in to hear about those new experiences because it was wild. 

Much love always from this New York girl,

Anna

An example of a new candy bar that I've tried

 

Student Section Cheering

 My friend Ornella is hollering at me to come and cheer with her in this picture :)

Chilean Soccer Game

 

Maitencillo Beach

 

Doctor's Visits, National Teacher's Day, and a Beach Picnic

 This past Thursday marked my 7th week in Chile. 

I'm still torn up between the fact that 7 weeks feels like so much time, but also it feels like it's gone by so fast. I am still having very mixed feelings about the fact that I have 7.5 months here, and if you're interested in hearing more about that particular topic, scroll back a little bit to my homesickness post where I really get into my feels. If you're not into emotional fluff, maybe skip it and just keep reading this post instead :)

This week was a little bizarre but we're still kicking so let me tell you all about it. 

First of all, I finally went to the doctor to get my weird Chilean rash that's been developing on my arm and stomach checked out! We are still waiting to get test results back, but I am taking some medicine and have a cream that I put on twice daily which has been making it itch less so that's super good. 

My understanding of what the doctor said is that it could be a few different things, none of which will kill me, and with some time the rash should go away on its own. Because I am in a new country, with lots of new things, and a LOT of new people (I'm still very unaccustomed to living in an urban environment), it makes sense that I catch some kind of something, but that doesn't mean I'm not freaking out a little bit. 

I'm also just a bit frustrated because I know I have a good immune system, having literally grown up in mud puddles filled with cow poop (there is photo evidence, just ask my mom). But I also know that the environment here is very different from home, especially because it is so urban. So yeah, it makes sense that I had to go to the doctor. Am I still a little bitter about it? For sure. 

However, the silver lining of this situation is that I did get to miss a little bit of school on Wednesday and Thursday, and I'll miss a little more this week when I have to go back for my follow-up appointment. Don't get me wrong, school is super great here, but I am still just a teenager. Skipping school is skipping school, whether you're in the U.S. or in Chile. 

Now of the topic of missing school, I had a three day weekend this week but not because of Indigenous People's/Columbus Day. Here in Chile they very widely celebrate National Teacher's Day, meaning that I didn't have school on Friday to honor all of the Chilean educators across the country. We also had a lovely ceremony on Thursday afternoon with some snacks and a few presents for our teachers. Overall, super fun. 

Side note, but as the daughter of a teacher I think this day is well deserved and that the U.S. should take notes...

Although I had a three day weekend, it has been relatively uneventful. In a way though, I think that's important for me. I can't remember the last time I had a weekend where I had absolutely nothing to do and just had to sit with myself. Probably sometime during my infancy, but we'd have to check the calendar. (Joking, joking, but you get the point) 

In all seriousness though, I can't recall. I feel a little bad because I've slept in a bit and  just done my own thing, unless my host family is doing something all together. I just don't want them to think I'm lazy or antisocial, but the truth is I'm kind of just a pain in the butt if I go over to the restaurant all of the time.

 My host family is always super busy with working, which I don't mind, but I do try to make their life easier by staying out of the way. Don't get me wrong, I go over every now and then and help with little chores and ask questions and witness the process, because that's my job as a foreign exchange student. I just know that if I did that all of the time, it would be super annoying. I'm just crossing my fingers that my host family doesn't see any of that as me being bratty, lazy, or a bad exchange student. If anyone has any insight on this situation, please let me know because I am overthinking it to the max. 

That being said though, I did go with my host family to the beach in a city called Maintencillo which was super cool. The weather wasn't sunny at all, but it was still warm which gave the entire experience this weird movie vibe, but I loved it. I got a few neat photos of the beach too, and got to eat this delicious apple cake that my host mom, Claudia, made. 10/10, will be trying to recreate when I come home. 

Oh I almost forgot, I did have a Rotary meeting this week and I gave a presentation about my home and all of my people. It wasn't my best work, but I tried my best. I'd just like to put it out there though that I am so proud of where I grew up and of all of the people who have contributed to my life. 

I did almost the same presentation in my History class this week too because my professor asked me to do a "history of my town" type of situation. At the end of it he said something that stuck with me and I wanna put it in here because it's so so true. 

Addressing my Chilean classmates, he said something along the lines of "when we think of the United States, our minds jump to urban centers, with modern technology, rich people, all moving at a million miles an hour. Now let's take a look at Anna and where she grew up. She's talkative, knowledgeable, and engaged with the world around her. And she grew up in a small rural town, rooted in agriculture, where she works a summer job, goes to the public library, and is very connected with her community. Anna's town is the REAL foundation of the United States" 

Obviously that is not a direct quote due to translation difficulties, but you get the idea. And holy smokes was my history teacher right. 

Salem is a prime example of a town that makes up the framework of our country in thousands of tiny ways.

 I can't imagine a life in which I didn't grow up learning how to work hard, have integrity, and care for the people and earth around me. What a privilege it is to call Salem my home. I'm thrilled that I was able to convey the significance of our lovely town and that it was received correctly by people in Chile, because Salem absolutely is an example of the foundation of the United States. 

I'm going to try to hang onto that idea when I come home. 

That's all I have for now, and as always I hope that life is treating my New York people well. 

Much love, 

Anna